Top advice on how to improve and maintain green church spaces was shared at a recent conference which drew delegates from the diocese and beyond.
Caring for your Churchyard was a day of talks organised at St Chad's, Headingley by our Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC).
I50 guests heard a speech by the diocesan registrar Peter Foskett on the legal obligations to maintain church grounds, a walk and talk with environment officer Jemima Parker and a presentation by Atlantic Geomatics on a new project to map and record gravestones
"We were delighted by the level of interest - we hoped for maybe 50 delegates and ended up with 150!" said DAC secretary Lisa McIntyre.
"There was an excellent, enthusiastic atmosphere throughout the day. which began with a welcome by the Bishop of Kirkstall, the Rt Revd Paul Slater.
"Our expert speakers ranged between legal matters, ecology, community engagement and mission and we were particularly pleased to act as the platform for the launch of the Burial Ground Management Project in Yorkshire, which will be a tool for PCCs seeking to better understand and manage their churchyards," Lisa said.
"We plan to follow the thoroughly informative day by producing new DAC guidance on all aspects of managing and making the most of churchyards, as well as encouraging PCCs to engage with the environmental agenda, which is an increasingly significant issue," she added.